The OS is getting updates with no problem. I'm having difficulty believing that the problem is rooted in the update service itself. It seems to be more of an issue with the remote site not recognizing our server as a Web Server 2008 R2 system.

With this thought in mind, I pulled the following from the WindowsUpdate.log

In working through the suggested remedies, on getting to #10, I realized that IE 11 was having issues connecting to http://update.microsoft.com. It was getting redirected. I reset IE to factory defaults, rebooted, was able to
turn on "Updates for Other Microsoft Products" and now the system is happily downloading SQLSERVER updates.

In working through the suggested remedies, on getting to #10, I realized that IE 11 was having issues connecting to http://update.microsoft.com. It was getting redirected. I reset IE to factory defaults, rebooted, was able to
turn on "Updates for Other Microsoft Products" and now the system is happily downloading SQLSERVER updates.

I ran into this issue on a few systems myself. While all the above solutions provided by others were much appreciated, the solution for me was to install Silverlight and at the end of the install process make sure that the box is checked to 'Update
Silverlight and other Microsoft products'. At that stage, the Control Panel WU applet displayed the options to update all MS products.

Kudos to OwatonnaIT for the answer here: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/700e035c-61b0-4f56-9810-259e1b5db74c/unable-to-switch-from-windows-update-to-microsoft-update

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